Rapper Mims sat down with Kiwibox Editor Steven to talk about why he felt he had to reinvent himself between his debut album and his recently released sophomore album Guilt, why he regrets not being more "insightful" on his debut, how the financial crisis inspired the album, whose respect means the most to him at the end of the day, whether or not he tried to capture the same feel of "This is Why I'm Hot" during the sessions for Guilt and what else we can expect to hear from him in the near future.



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You all remember rapper Mims' biggest hit "This is Why I'm Hot." Those bloopy synthesizers, that stripped-down beat, the hypnotic rhyme scheme, the lyrical simplicity – easy to hate, but impossible to deny. The single burned up the charts in the first couple months of 2007, holding onto the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and going on to become one of the biggest hits of the year. But after all the platinum-certified glory faded, Mims was forced to prove that he was more than just a one-hit wonder with his debut album Music Is My Savior, released March 27 that same year. The album didn't hit as hard as he had hoped, raking in lukewarm reviews and barely making a dent on urban radio with his follow-up single "Like This." Mims soon retreated from the spotlight to get hard at work on his sophomore effort, bent on erasing the haters' perception that he was just another emcee to get lucky with a spicy debut single.

After a few years off to get his mind right, Mims is back with his freshly released sophomore album Guilt, a full-length that digs much deeper than "This is Why I'm Hot" and showcases his lyrical wit and integrity as an emcee. At the beginning of Guilt's conception, Mims noticed the financial storm clouds gathering over the American economy, deciding that it was time to give back to his friends, family and fans by relating to them through his music. Instead of rapping about his pockets' thickness and living the life of luxury on every single record, Mims lightened up and got much more introspective, sharing aspects of his personal life with listeners unlike ever before. "One Last Kiss," an '80s-tinged rock-rap hybrid, sees him writing a lyrical letter to his deceased mother, while the Ky-Mani Marley-assisted "One Day" picks up the pieces of a shattered relationship. Because of the heavier weight of the album's lyrical content, Guilt is a solid front-to-back effort, one that will erase any notion that Mims was worth little more than just the hit he had a few years back.

But while he's much more introspective on Guilt, the Washington Heights-based rapper still doles out the hits. The album is fronted by the single "Move (If You Wanna)," a dizzying track where Mims directly brushes off the idea that his only successful tune will be "This is Why I'm Hot," rapping, "They call it one-hit wonder, but I guess that means I'm one up / Light a match, play with fire / That just means you gon' get burned up." And where Mims is tight on the lyrical tip, the musical landscape and guest stars on Guilt help to diversify the sound of the album as a whole. "You tell me what you like, and I'll tell you there's a piece of it on this album," Mims says, pointing out that there are bits of rock ("Rock 'N Rollin'" featuring Tech N9ne), slick R&B ("Love Rollercoaster" featuring Letoya Luckett) and old school hip-hop ("I Do" featuring Nice and Smooth) on the album. And though mainstream success isn't promised in the current musical climate, Guilt is a step forward for the rapper no matter how the album fares, an album that will earn him the credibility he deserves.

A few weeks before Guilt hit stores, Mims swung by Capitol Records in New York City to do the interview rounds ahead of the album's release. Surprisingly self-aware, Mims was talking up the record like a pro, going from one interview to the next without showing a single sign of wear-and-tear. In the artist's lounge of the label headquarters, Mims sat down with Kiwibox Editor Steven to talk about why he felt he had to reinvent himself between his debut album and his recently released sophomore album Guilt, why he regrets not being more "insightful" on his debut, how the financial crisis inspired the album, whose respect means the most to him at the end of the day, whether or not he tried to capture the same feel of "This is Why I'm Hot" during the sessions for Guilt and what else we can expect to hear from him in the near future.